While Marcela Valladolid may be known for her work in the kitchen, it turns out her interior-design eye is pretty enviable too.

The chef and co-host of the Emmy-nominated Food Network show The Kitchen talked to PEOPLE exclusively about her soon-to-arrive daughter‘s nursery, which she designed with a few very specific things in mind.

“I chose a subtle owl theme for the nursery because of its symbolism in Native American culture as a protector,” says Valladolid, 38, who just launched her brand new website and blog at ChefMarcela.com.

Adds Valladolid, who is also mom to sons David, 19 months — featured in some of the nursery photos — and Fausto, 12, “If our daughter is born on or around her due date, she also happens to fall under the owl animal symbol on the calendar.”

The soon-to-be mother of three, whose daughter will be her second child with fiancé Philip, incorporated pieces from Anthropologie, Folk-Project.com and Kate Spade into her little girl’s nursery.

“The owl wallpaper is from the Kate Spade Collection,” Valladolid, who’s due in December, shares. “I spotted it while walking into a meeting in Manhattan in a showroom with a company I’ve been looking to work with for awhile. I instantly fell in love with it, and took it as a sign that good things were to come.”

Isabella Martinez-FunckeIsabella Martinez-Funcke

Aside from the owl theme, the room is chock full of whites, blushes and pops of yellow and gray. But Valladolid admits the “pink” route wasn’t something that came naturally to her.

“As much as I thought I would NEVER be able to embrace pink, thank goodness blush rose is the color of the winter season and there are so many options from furniture to decor,” she explains. “I even set my Thanksgiving table in all blush rose this year.”

“I always like to add one or two elements that remind me and my children about our Mexican culture, so I added two gorgeous pillows from folk-project.com made from hand-embroidered Mexican textiles,” she explains. “I’m using them as floor pillows.”

Isabella Martinez-Funcke

Valladolid admits that one specific element of her little girl’s room is only partly about the color match — in fact, she’s already setting her daughter up to be a strong woman.

“In terms of inspiration later on, Sophia Amoruso‘s book Nasty Galaxy is in her dresser,” she says. “Not only because of the inspiring and empowering quotes, but because it’s the perfect shade of pink!”